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Minister Anant Kumar Hegde terms intellectuals as ‘idiots in secular makeup’

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Union minister, Anant Kumar Hegde, continuing with his tirade against rationalists and intellectuals, termed them as ‘idiots’ who have ‘sold’ their intellect and have been living under the ‘cover of secular makeup’.

He was speaking at a programme organized at Suchitra Film Society at Banashankari here to release the translated edition of Veer Savarkar’s book ‘Hindutva’, by critic and columnist, J B Harish, on Sunday, June 17. He accused some rationalists of having enough knowledge about Hindutva but acting out a drama about it. He felt that no one should work to create a division of Hindutva.

“Those who already know about Hindutva do not need this. Intellectuals who are in hibernation duly covering themselves in the blanket of idiocy will not understand in spite of one’s best efforts. Those who visit USA, Japan etc come back and criticize India for the improper network, bad condition of the road and shortage of electricity. For them, only these things make up a country,” he criticized.

Hegde said that Savarkar followed what he preached. He said it is impossible to totally explain Hindutva and termed such a demand as a height of foolishness. “I am not an idiot like the rationalists, and I was not born in such a lineage of idiots,” he stated.

Hegde pointed out that Christians, Buddhists, Muslims, Parsis etc proudly claim themselves to be belonging to their respective religions but Hindus are not proud of their religion. He wondered why they do not feel that pride. “We know our parents. Why should we not say that we are Hindus? Our people should free themselves from this state of mind,” he stated.

Hegde blamed some people of trying to project that Hinduism is being raked up as an issue for the election. “This is not a political football match. It is not a technique meant for election. Wearing flowers, and bangles, going to temples etc do not entirely depict Hinduism. Hinduism is our lifeline and culture. It is an excellent way of living,” he explained.

Writers, M N Vyasa Rao and Rohith Chakrateertha, critic, J B Harish and others were present.

Roger Federer to regain the world number one ranking today

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With a 6-4, 7-6 7-3 victory over Milos Raonic in the Stuttgart Cup final on Sunday, 36-year-old top-seeded Swiss Roger Federer not only claimed his 98th ATP Tennis title, but also re-established his unrivalled superiority on grass. Now, he will regain the world number one ranking on Monday (June 18).

Roger Federer will now be playing next week as top seed in Halle. And, he will be chasing a ninth Wimbledon triumph next month.

Jaitley lauds GDP growth, says job creation is on track

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In yet another long blog, Finance Minister and senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley on Monday lauded the fourth quarter GDP growth of 7.7 per cent saying the future looked much brighter than the past.

“The fourth quarter result of GDP data showed a phenomenal 7.7 percent growth rate and has established India firmly as the fastest growing global economy. This trend, according to experts, is likely to continue for the next few years, he wrote.

“With structural reforms like demonetisation, the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the enforcement of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), we had two challenging quarters,” Jaitley said adding that “those who predicted a two per cent decline in GDP growth have been conclusively proved wrong.”

He said a distinguished predecessor of his had feared that he may have to live his future in poverty. “We have enabled every Indian to be a part of the world’s fastest-growing economy. The future looks much brighter than the past. This trend is likely to continue for some years,” Jaitley said.

He tried to address various economic issues concerning people from rising oil price, structural reforms, and job creation and praised the social sector schemes and the rural development programmes launched by the government.

“These involve legislations which are path-breaking and development works in roads, railways, housing, power, sanitation — which yield high social benefits — require a high level of government expenditure. This type of government spending promotes growth. This is what we are witnessing today,” he said.

Jaitley who underwent kidney replacement recently is still recovering and is yet to rejoin his office.

On Job job creation Jaitley said: “An analysis of the data released clearly shows that the construction sector is expanding by double digits. It is a job-creating sector. Investment is increasing. Domestic investment is also increasing. The FDI is at an unprecedented level.”

He said the IBC had unlocked value in non-performing assets. “Fixed capital formation is growing. Manufacturing is expanding. We are spending huge amounts on infrastructure creation. Expenditure on rural projects has increased in a big way. The social sector schemes, more particularly the financial inclusion programmes, have created a wave of self-employment. Each one of these is a high job-creating sector,” he asserted.

He said if India remains a tax non-compliant nation, both Centre and state government would have very little to spend. They will borrow more and spend less. “Demonetisation, GST, digitization, Aadhaar and the anti-black money measures are leading to a gradual formalization of the Indian economy.”

Talking about tax collection, Jaitley said: “We have reached 6.86 crore income tax return filers last year. The number of income tax returns post demonetization show a 25 percent growth. Even the corporate returns have increased by 17 percent.”

He said that GST, after a few weeks of its implementation became problem free, and was leading to higher tax collection. “With higher revenues, the Government has been able to spend more on infrastructure, rural India and social sector schemes and yet maintained fiscal prudence and keeping the fiscal deficit on downward glide path,” he added.

“The last four years have seen an improvement in central government’s tax-GDP ratio from 10 percent to 11.5 percent. There is an increase of 1.46 percentage points. Almost half of this, 0.72 percent of GDP, accounts for an increase in the non-oil tax-GDP ratio. The level of non-oil taxes to GDP at 9.8 percent in 2017-18 is the highest since 2007-08 a year in which our revenue position was boosted by a buoyant international environment,” the minister said.

He said despite higher compliances in a new system, as far as the non-oil taxes are concerned, “we are still far from being a tax complaint society. Salaried employees is one category of tax compliant assessees. Most other sections still have to improve their track record. The effort for next few years has to be to replicate the last four years and improve India’s tax to GDP ratio by another 1.5 percent.”

Finally speaking about the spiraling fuel prices, which is hurting every common man, he said: “if people pay their taxes honestly the high dependence on oil products for taxation eventually comes down.”

Taking a dig at former finance minister and Congress leader P. Chidambaram over his comment on oil, Jaitley said: “Another distinguished predecessor of mine had stated that the tax on oil should be cut by Rs 25 per liter. He never endeavored to do so himself. This is a “Trap” suggestion. It is intended to push India into an unmanageable debt — something which the UPA Government left as its legacy.”

He the economy and the markets rewarded structural reforms, fiscal prudence, and macroeconomic stability. “They punish fiscal indiscipline and irresponsibility. The transformation from UPA’s ‘policy paralysis’ to the NDA’s ‘fastest growing economy’ conclusively demonstrates this,” Jaitley said.

India working towards becoming five trillion economy by 2025 says President Kovind

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India is striving to become a USD 5 trillion economy and the world’s third-largest consumer market by 2025, President Ram Nath Kovind has said as he highlighted investment opportunities in the country.

Kovind, the first Indian president to travel to Greece in 11 years, arrived here on Saturday on the first leg of his three-nation tour.

Addressing the diaspora here, he said his visit will strengthen ties between India and Greece.

Kovind praised overseas Indians for playing an important role in improving bilateral relations.

“Greece and India presented the ideals of civilization and culture in the ancient world. The relations between the two countries are very old and deep. Greek historian Megasthenes introduced India to the world through his book ‘Indica’,” the president said.

“We are working towards making India a USD 5 trillion economy and the world’s third-largest consumer market by 2025. According to the World Bank and IMF, our growth rate is going to be high,” he said.

Currently, India’s economy is estimated at USD 2.5 trillion.

Kovind said India had a very strong position in the world with the perspective of democracy, demographic divided and demand.

“We are proud of our overseas Indians and their successes. Today there are plenty of opportunities for business, innovation, and investment in India. I hope that whatever you can do for the development of India for the motherland, you will do that,” he said.

India-Greece bilateral trade stands at USD 530 million and some Indian companies are also present in the infrastructure, pharmaceutical and steel sectors in the central European nation. Greece is home to a 12,000-strong Indian diaspora.

Kovind will also travel to Surinam and Cuba during his trip.

Three killed in Japan quake

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At least three people were killed and over 50 others injured on Monday when an earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale jolted Japan’s Osaka city.

The victims comprised a nine-year-old girl and two men, Japanese broadcaster NHK reported.

The earthquake was recorded at 7.58 a.m. and had its hypocenter at about 13 km depth in Osaka Prefecture on the island of Honshu, the largest in the Japanese archipelago, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA).

However, no tsunami warning was issued, reports Efe news.

Several buildings in Osaka and Takatsuki collapsed and were on fire.

Railway services in Osaka, Shiga, Kyoto and Nara, both high speed bullet trains and local rail services, were halted.

Osaka’s Kansai Airport has been shut down while its runways were being checked for damage.

The authorities said that none of the 15 nuclear reactors in this region have been affected by the quake.

The Japanese government has set up a task force to gather information related to the strong earthquake and the Chief Cabinet Secretary, Yoshihide Suga, called on citizens to keep an eye on developments through the media.

Around 170,000 houses in Osaka prefecture are experiencing power outages following the quake, NHK reported.

According to the JMA, this is the first time that the Osaka prefecture has seen an earthquake of this intensity since 1923.

Japan sits on the so-called Ring of Fire, one of the most active seismic zones in the world, and experiences earthquakes frequently, which is why most infrastructure is specially designed to withstand earthquakes.

HD Kumaraswamy request help from Centre for farm loan waiver

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Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy has asked for the Union government to give 50 percent financial assistance to waive off farmer’s loan remembering the interests of the farmers in the state.

Talking at the NITI Aayog meeting held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan under the administration of Prime Minister Narendra Modi here on June 17, Kumaraswamy said that in the state around 85 lakh farmers are in the debt. Farmers suffer a huge loss because of drought and other calamities, the state needs the help of the Union government, he asked.

“I am partaking in the NITI Aayog meeting for the first time. Our coalition government is prepared to react to the issues of the farmers, there is a requirement for help from the Central government. We will hold hands with the Center on the development issue.” he included.

Two Muslims near the very top in British politics’

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The three column, six inch-deep headline on page 1 of the Daily Telegraph caught my eye: “Doors open to thousands more skilled migrants.”

Given the anti-immigrant rhetoric I had heard in Rome and elsewhere in Europe, the headline was refreshing. Even more noticeable was the name of the Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, the third-highest ranked member of Prime Minister Theresa May’s cabinet who had reversed policy with the statement which formed the headline.

The 48-year-old son of Pakistani migrants who started business with a 500 pound bank loan had already established his “clubability” with the Conservative Party when he became Managing Director of Deutsche Bank.

Of comparable agility in the political race is the high profile Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, of the Labour party. He is only 41 but has already graduated through a stint in the cabinet as Transport Minister. “I am the first Muslim in Britain to have attended cabinet meetings,” Khan said with pride.

One of the obstacles in the way of Donald Trump making a state visit in 2017, a banquet with the Queen et al, was the Conservative Party’s very bipartisan objection: How can we host a US President who has imposed restrictions on citizens of Muslim countries? “We have a Muslim mayor and therefore a state visit by Trump is out of the question.”

“There are two Muslims in this country who are positioned to make a bid for the Prime Minister’s post,” said Lord Meghnad Desai. He was chairing a discussion on “India at 70: Nehru to Modi” in Committee Room 1 of the House of Lords. Instantly a question surfaced: Can a Muslim nurse such aspirations back home where he has a history for a 1,000 years?

Last year, at a similar seminar at King’s College, London, someone pointed to the presence of four Muslims in the English cricket team. This time I find that even the ever-present Moeen Ali, with a beard longer than W.G. Grace’s, is not in the squad. This waxing and waning is itself proof of a consistent quest for merit. It is not just a blanket upward mobility that Muslims have acquired: A process of distillation is taking place.

The post-9/11 war on terror which distorted most democracies by transferring extraordinary powers to the Deep State did not leave Britain unscathed. But persistent reliance on the Rule of Law has kept prejudice from taking root at an institutional level. The brief travel I have undertaken from London to Manchester has been something of an eye-opener.

A distinguished psychiatrist with the National Health Service married to my sister has been bed-ridden with a stroke he suffered three years ago. The care he has received in hospitals has to be seen to be believed. He is under 24/7 observation. The four very English “carers” who visit him round the clock have virtually become members of the family. It would be malicious to put it down to the aromatic cuisines my sister rustles up every time the carers arrive.

One evening I was invited to a “All Faith”, post-Iftar talk on a theme which surprised me because of its incongruity: “Wave of Populism in Europe”. It was all very graceful.

Earlier, in London, I had seen Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, the local Rabbi and Priests of various churches breaking bread with their hosts at a “street Iftar Party” outside Finsbury Park mosque. The enthusiastic white, English participation in the event was heartwarming.

The war on terror with its random targets did cast the Muslim in an unfortunate image, particularly during the Tony Blair years. But excesses of those years also filled the ordinary people with a sense of guilt and compassion.

This somewhat exclusive focus on the Muslim in Britain must not obscure the overall south Asian profile in the country. A recent study produced a very negative image of Pakistanis among the public. A total of 1,668 British adults were asked last month to indicate the extent to which Indians, Bangladeshis and Pakistanis made a positive or negative contribution to life in UK. The image of Indians was by far the most positive. 25 percent of those asked thought that Indians made a positive contribution. When positive and the negative figures were placed side by side for Bangladeshis and Pakistanis their score was -4 (minus four) and -3 (minus three), respectively.

Obviously proportionate to their population in the country, there are fewer Muslims in the high aspirational bracket than there are Indians, mostly Hindus in diverse careers. This imbalance can be traced to India’s social history. The majority community took to western education in late 19th century itself while Muslims remained anchored to feudal nostalgia and their rich Urdu culture.

I, in my earlier years, have seen this country rattled by Enoch Powell’s anti-immigrant speech in 1968, exactly 50 years ago: “Like the Roman, I see the Tiber foaming with blood.” The Liberal press reached out for Powell’s jugular and for a while Powellism appeared to be receding. But soon enough the country experienced another bout of street racism. “Paki bashing” became the war cry in the run-down parts of the country. But such upheavals never unhinged Britain from its basic anchor: The Rule of Law. It is this anchor which has been the primary enabling factor in Sajid Javid and Sadiq Khan’s rise.

It may be instructive for us in India that Britain is a very resilient Protestant monarchy which overseas secularism tied with hoops of steel to the Rule of Law.

It would be absurd to compare apples and oranges. The bewildering variety of our civilisational tapestry is unique. Even so our trajectory could have borne some resemblance to “genuine equal rights”, a phenomena Britain can boast of. Instead our politicians dissembled at the very outset leading us into a messy path. I shall explain.

Strike on east Syria killed 38 pro-regime fighters: monitor

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At least 38 foreign fighters allied to Syria’s regime were killed in an overnight bombing raid near the country’s eastern border with Iraq, a monitor said today.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the strike on the town of Al-Hari was one of the deadliest on forces allied with Syria’s government, but could not immediately identify who carried it out.

Syrian state media reported the attack overnight and accused the US-led coalition against the Islamic State group, saying a number of people were killed.(AFP)

Need tolerance to accept sexual diversity: Mr Gay World 2018 runner-up

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City-based Samarpan Maiti, the second runner-up of Mr Gay World 2018, dreams of a day when there would be no need to use terms like “straight” to identify people, but says this could be possible only when people have the tolerance to accept diversities.

“I dream of a day when we don’t need to coin terms like ‘gay’, ‘straight’ to identify people, one can simply say I am a man and my partner is a man and so on. This could be possible with the tolerance of accepting diversities, giving respect to everyone’s personal choices,” Maiti, also a cancer researcher, told IANS in an e-mail interview.

The 29-year old IIT Kharagpur alumni is a role model for those who “want to break the stereotypes, don’t want to fit in any particular box” and is far from the caricature-like portrayals of gay men in Bollywood or other Indian shows. Despite his “broken English”, he finished second runner-up in the contest held in Knysna in South Africa this May.

“My mother says that I made our country proud and that must be celebrated! Sadly in our society people don’t have that same respect for us as Mr World or Miss World winners,” Samarpan said after returning to Kolkata.

He thinks even if Section 377 of Indian Penal Code is done away with, it will matter little for the LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer) community if society continues discrimination and violence, so community building involving the entire society is important.

Maiti is working for the visibility of aged and the rural folks of the LGBTQ community.

Juggling between such diverse fields, he has always wondered why someone couldn’t be a model, actor, writer and scientists at the same time.

“Since childhood I wanted to be a scientist. I always feel that if I do something good in research it will help millions of people. But in future, if I find myself not doing up to that level, I may shift to something else. I am also interested in studying about acting and film direction.”

Maiti’s preparation started in 2016 when he became a model in a LGBT-themed photo series and acted in theatre and short films.

“I wanted to participate because it was in my mind that if I win the title, it will shake the society more because I am from a background which people see with a huge respect. I wanted people to respect me not only for my work but also as an individual,” he added.

His journey is bitterly laced with his share of bullying and discrimination.

“Once my landlord drove me out of a hostel suspecting I was gay. Friends and even teachers bullied me calling ‘girly’, ‘feminine’, ‘hijra’ (eunuch) and all sorts of names. I cried a lot and tried to commit suicide. Only because of one of my straight friend’s support, I survived,” he disclosed.

He joined a reputed institute in Kolkata as a researcher working on “discovery of low cost-effective therapies and drug repositioning” for cancer. Even there society’s ugliness followed him.

“The discrimination started in new forms, as I was from a remote village; I was not able to speak English fluently with the right pronunciation and kept myself isolated, but that did not stop my creativity,” he said.

Maiti believes if he continues his good work, society is bound to love him for his work, accept him and his message, for who he is.

His cultural grooming started in the village fields amidst cows and huge collection of books at home. A friend, Archangel Mukherjee groomed him in modelling.

“In the international platform I felt how freedom of love could be and am inspired to bring that freedom here,” Maiti said.

His mother took time to accept her son’s sexual orientation.

“If your parents are not mentally prepared, try to educate them first. With my mother, I discussed the issues about LGBTQ community and their miseries. In Indian society, parents dream about their children’s marriage and I explained why marriage is less important than the companionship with someone,” Maiti said, in a suggestion to the ones trying to reveal their sexual orientation to parents.

Contending that homosexuality was not alien to Indian culture, he regrets that the problem lies in people not ready to accept it in real life.

“In our mythology, you will find lots of examples of same-sex lovemaking and people are worshipping them, but not ready to accept in real life. The policymakers think that it will affect their vote bank, some people think it’s against our culture but we forget that is was imposed by the British,” said Maiti.

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